


Moving On

by TiBun



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Accidents, M/M, One Shot, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 20:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4578309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiBun/pseuds/TiBun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The last thing Kotetsu expected was to realize that his feelings for his young partner Barnaby ran much deeper than friendship. Could he finally be ready to try for love again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moving On

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, I only explore the possibilities
> 
> I have had this idea in my head for a while and finally got around to writing it all down. This is my first time writing for T&B so if someone seems a little OOC, please be gentle. I have started RPing as Kotetsu (HeroWildTiger on Tumblr) so this also helped me develop him as a muse more.

Kotetsu wasn't normally this distracted as he drove along the highway heading out of Sternbild City. His mind was always looking forward to his visit with his family and spending time with his daughter. She truly was the light of his world, but this time his mind wasn't on seeing her in person for the first time in far too long, but on what had happened just before he left.

A frown tugged at Kotetsu's lips as he shifted in his driver's seat, one hand on the top of the wheel, and the other scratching his cat-bearded chin.

He was a hero; Wild Tiger who worked closely with another one of the City's heroes; Barnaby Brooks Jr. Together they made up the first hero duo and partnership in saving the city, as they shared the exact same powers and could use it together for an advantage. Both heroes had been less than pleased when they had found out they had to work together. Kotetsu was an older hero and a veteran at the business, he was used to working alone, and Barnaby was a new hero ten years younger and loads more popular than his older partner who had struggled with the fact that he seemed to be no one's favorite hero anymore. Even now, his popularity came from being paired with Barnaby, and he felt like he was in the new hero's shadow constantly.

Interviews with the both of them always focused on Barnaby, interactions with citizens and fans Kotetsu always seemed to be shoved off to the side…it was like he was no more than a footnote to Barnaby's reputation. But it didn't bother him too much. After all, points and popularity weren't the reasons he got into the hero business. No, he was in it to protect the citizens.

Though a little recognition of his own would be nice at times. Even his own daughter was a Barnaby fan and didn't care so much about Wild Tiger. Though she did grow more supportive of Wild Tiger once she found out that he was her father. He'd never told her himself simply because he feared knowing would put her in danger. But now that she did know, he found that he liked the pride she took for her father, rather than insist he was nothing but embarrassing all the time.

Over time, Kotetsu and Barnaby had grown used to the idea of being partners, and had even started working together as a duo. After that, it wasn't long before they grew closer and Kotetsu started thinking of the young man as a friend. Granted, he tended to annoy said friend and frustrate him into a bit of a mood…but a friend nonetheless. And until earlier that day, he was perfectly happy with how their relationship dynamic had settled. It had been comfortable and natural.

But now, he wasn't so sure it was enough.

He had been a happily married man until his wife passed on, leaving him alone with their young daughter, and he'd then been a happily widowed single father who's day job was protecting the city as his wife had been so proud of him for. Moving on wasn't something he'd ever thought about. Romance wasn't something he'd sought, let alone with another man, of all things.

And yet, here he was, imagining what it'd be like to go on a romantic date with his young, attractive partner. Wondering how it would feel to run his tan hands through those soft blond curls. He couldn't deny that Barnaby was an attractive young man. No one could. And there wasn't a single woman, married or not, who didn't fantasize about being with Barnaby. At least, that's what it seemed to Kotetsu. But who could blame them, really? He certainly couldn't, especially now.

The scene played out in Kotetsu's mind yet again as he flipped on his blinker and merged over into the lane that would take him onto an exit ramp and to the regular roadways. He ran on autopilot as he'd driven the route too many times to count. He couldn't possibly miss the exit anymore, even while distracted by thoughts other than getting home to Kaede, his mother, and his brother.

They had been fighting again. Kotetsu had slipped up and cost them the points for capturing yet another criminal to hand over to the police. It had been happening a lot lately and Barnaby had had enough.

"Get your head in the right place, old man!" The blond hero had shouted, shoving Kotetsu's shoulder once they were away from the crowd and cameras, "How can we keep protecting the city when I have to keep saving you? Stop being so reckless!"

"Hey, it was an honest slip-up, Bunny!" Kotetsu had insisted, using his little nickname he'd given Barnaby when they had first partnered up. He knew Barnaby hated it, but he couldn't seem to stop using it—it had simply stuck.

"I know it was, and that's the problem! You need to think more, take time to calculate your moves! We are partners, Kotetsu, we need to work together better. We were doing so well, what happened?"

Kotetsu hadn't known how to answer. He simply couldn't understand it himself Perhaps he'd just finally gotten too old for hero work. Barnaby was right, of course, they  _couldn't_  save the city when he needed saving himself. He'd hung his head, letting the silence between them build until the blond finally sighed and stepped forward, reaching out and cupping Kotetsu's cheek as best he could while they wore their suits.

"Maybe you have been working too hard to make up for the fact you are slowly losing your powers." He whispered gently, "Why don't you take the weekend off? Go home and relax. It could be just the refresher you need."

Their eyes met and Kotetsu's cheeks heated, his heart giving a familiar  _ba-bump_  in his chest. It was one he knew well, but one he hadn't felt in years. A feeling that only his late wife had ever given him.

He felt like he was looking into the eyes of the person his heart belonged to. But Barnaby wasn't his, he wasn't Barnaby's, and he was pretty sure they were both straight! Yet the way his heart beat in his chest suggested otherwise, and maybe he was just imagining it, but he felt like Barnaby was fighting himself not to lean in just a little more and tilt his head as their lips met…

Preposterous. Such daydreams had no place between the two partners, and yet…

"Maybe I am into men, too…" he reasoned out loud to himself, "I never thought about it before because I was happy with how things were in my life, but now…maybe it's a sign that my heart's ready to try again? What do you think, Tomoe? Can you share me with another?" he glanced upwards towards the blue skies and smiled at himself, "Of course you would be okay with it. You would want to see me happy. The question is…how does Bunny feel about me? I have a hard time seeing a man like him being remotely interested in a boring old man like me. Should I risk it..?"

There was the real question. It had taken him a long time to finally realize it. He was in love with his partner. That wasn't the question. The question was should he put the friendship and partnership they shared in jeopardy by confessing to the younger hero? Doing so could break everything and perhaps end their partnership once and for all, or it could bring them together and form a lasting bond stronger than ever and they wouldn't know which until it either ended or lead to something like Kotetsu had shared with Tomoe.

His mind then drifted to imagining a life with the young blond, seeing him smile a true smile, bringing him home for the holidays…would Kaede approve, though?

He never had time to think on it. A horn blared and tires started squealing, pulling him from his thoughts abruptly as he realized he'd drifted into oncoming traffic.

"Crap!" He turned the wheel to steer back into the proper lane, but it was too late. The truck he faced hit his car in what felt like slow motion. Metal twisting and crumpling as if it were nothing more than paper. Hoping to protect himself, Kotetsu activated his NEXT Powers, but it was too late to do much else as his car was pushed back, tipping over and rolling. Glass shattered around him, and his head smacked against the door before everything turned black.

 

* * *

 

"…and truth be told, he shouldn't even have been alive when our medics arrived on the scene." The doctor admitted to the group of Kotetsu's loved ones who had hurried to the hospital as soon as they received the news, "We don't know how he managed to survive this long, and he's in critical condition, but we have faith that he'll wake up eventually. We just need to get him through the first twenty-four hours.

Standing among Kotetsu's emotional, stunned, and worried family members, the other heroes and some friends, Barnaby tightened his jaw to help hold in his concern for his partner as he glanced over at the lone bed in the room they stood outside of. Monitors and tubes attached to Kotetsu's motionless body.

"Kotetsu…" he allowed himself to whisper in worry.

_Don't leave us now…I'm not ready to go solo…_

It took all he had not to run to the older man's side and grab his hand just as Kaede was doing that very second, crying openly as she willed her father to wake up.

_I have yet to tell you how I truly feel…_

* * *

  **-End-**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
